Gibs Festival of Ideas: Shaping a world of change

"The SAB Foundation is excited to partner with The Gibs Entrepreneurship Academy for this year's Festival of Ideas. We firmly believe that the competition's innovations have the power to make a real difference," stated Itumeleng Dhlamini, head of programmes at The SAB Foundation.

Miranda Hosking, executive of the Gibs Entrepreneurship Development Academy says: “With economic growth stagnating and intractable unemployment, there is an urgent need to stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit and encourage people to explore entrepreneurship and self-employment as an alternative to seeking formal employment. Given the historically low rate of entrepreneurial activity in South Africa it may be an unattractive option for most, but the state of the economy compels us all to highlight the necessity for young people especially to start new entrepreneurial ventures and create opportunities for themselves and others to be employed.”

Social entrepreneurship is one area where a real difference can be made to both the country’s economic and social landscapes. Through the Festival of Ideas, a call to entry is cast out to aspiring social and environmental entrepreneurs to come forward and pitch their ideas to a panel of expert judges for a chance to win a share of R130,000 towards funding their businesses. The competition is coupled with an all-day workshop on campus where 50 shortlisted candidates will be taken through a series of robust coaching and training around how to best position and sell their business ideas to funders to ensure that they are ready and will be able to confidently pitch to the panel of expert judges.

If your social or environmental business idea is worthy of being pitched to a panel of experts and a live audience, we want to hear from you.

Click https://bit.ly/FOIPR for more information on how to enter the Festival of Ideas competition. Entries close on 3 November 2023.